Combined forming and finishing mechanism



Aug. 22, 1933.

E. SCOFIELD COMBINED FORMING AND FINISHING MECHANISM Original Filed June 8, 1926 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR J Z ml IRSNEY Aug. 22, 1933 SCQFIELD 1,923,752

COMBINED FORMING AND FINISHING MECHANISM Q Original Filed June 8, 1926 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 BY W v f? ATTO NEY Aug. 22, 1933- E. SCOFIELD COMBINED FORMING AND FINISHING MECHANISM Original Filed June 1926 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR [oyor J'co/Ae/o BY MW AT ORNEY Aug. 22, 1933. SCQFIELD 1,923,752

COMBINED FORMING AND FINISHING MECHANISM Original Filed June 8, 1926 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 INVENTOR TTORNEY Patented Aug. 22, 1933 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE COMBINED FORIVIING AND FINISHING MECHANISM Edgar Scofield, New York, N. Y., assignor to Anchor Cap & Closure Corporation, Long Island City, N. Y.', a Corporation of New York Original application June 8, 1926, Serial No. 114,518, and in Canada August 7, 1926. Divided and this application December 9, 1932. Serial 21 Claims.

chines. For instance, in the manufacture of 010- sure caps, it is customary to stamp the blanks from strips of sheet metal into dish-shaped forms and thereafter run the blanks through threading, beading, or other finishing machines to complete the articles. In many instances, one of the machines may operate at a much lower or higher rate than the other, in which event, it is necessary .that both machines be operated at substantially the same rate if they are to be interconnected. In the manufactureof closure caps, the stamping machine generally discharges blanks at several times the speed that a threading machine can finish them and it has been customary to stamp the blanks, store them in boxes, and later feed them to threadingmachines. This resulted in extra labor and ineiiicient operations. The present invention aims to provide an inexpensive and effective means of forming and finishing articles, which is very simple in construction and efiicient in operation.

Generally speaking, these advantages are attained by utilizing one or more deflecting means, through which the articles discharged from the forming machine pass in one or more lines or paths and are deflected transversely of a conveyor into a greater number of paths leading to the finishing machines. Preferably, the deflector is oscillated at such a rate that a numberof articles are delivered to each path alternately rather than a single article upon each oscillation of the deflector. A plurality of deflectors may be utilized, one to divert the articles on the conveyor into a series of paths and the others further to increase the number of paths to any desired extent. The invention further contemplates the changing of two rows of articles on a conveyor to three or more rows for distribution to the finishing machines.

An object of the present invention is to reduce the cost of manufacturing articles such as closure caps.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a mechanism for manufacturing caps in which the caps discharged from the forming machine are automatically fed to the mechanism for subsequently operating upon them, such as the clearly; 1 Fig. 4 is a top-plan view of a slightly differthread rolling, beading or other finishing machine.

Another object of the invention is to provide an efficie'nt feeding mechanism for receiving caps or the like from one mechanism and distributing them in predetermined quantities to a plurality of devices adapted to perform a subsequent operation upon the caps.

Another object of the invention is to provide combined blank forming and finishing machines and to distribute the blanks to a plurailty of finishing machines uniformly and in substantially equal numbers to each machine.

A still further object of the invention is to.

provide a'stamping machine adapted to form a plurality of articles simultaneously, and disstributing said articles to a plurality of machines effectively and efficiently, delivering substantially an equal number of articles to each machine.

Other andfurther objects of the invention will be obvious upon an understanding of the illustrative embodiment about to be described, or will be obvious from the accompanying drawings, or indicated in the appended claims, and 6 various advantages secured by the invention, other than those herein specificallyreferred to, will occur to one skilled in the art upon employment of the invention in practice. v

A preferred embodiment of the invention has been chosen for purposes of illustration and description and is shown in the accompanying drawings, wherein Fig. 1 is a diagrammatic illustration of one embodiment of the invention illustrating a stamping machine and four finishing machines interconnected for the manufacture of articles such as closure caps;

Fig. 2 is a detailed top-plan view of portions of the device shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a sectional view of the parts shown in Fig. 2, taken along the line 33 thereof, with the conveyor omitted at the left hand portion to illustrate other parts of the device more ent construction;

Fig; 5 is a top-plan view of another form of the invention; 7 Fig. 6 is a detailed view showing ing device delivering blanks to two machines on opposite sides of the conveyor;

Fig. 7 is a detailed view showing the device in Fig. 6 distributing blanks to a pair of ma- 0 65 .On the same side of the conveyor; and

a distribut- Fig. 8 is a sectional view along the line 8--8 of Fig. 2.

Referring to the drawings, there is shown in Fig. l a diagrammatic layout in which a machine 10 delivers articles or blanks 11 to a con veyor 12. The machine may stamp two or more articles simultaneously and deliver them to the conveyor in a number of rows at a rate consider-v ably greater than the capacity of .a single finishing machine. In the present case, the machine chosen is adapted to feed four finishing machines 14, by means of suitable chutes 15 eading. from the conveyor to the individual machines. Preferably, the chutes are positioned substantiallyopposite each other so that between the first pair a deflector 16 may be mounted to be oscillated transversely of the conveyor to deflect the blanks of one row into a chute and to permit the blanks in the other row to continue along the same line of movement to the diagonally opposite chute .and machine. The oscillations of the deflector may be so timed that a series of four blanks are deflected and allowed to pass in each instance. The chutes are adapted to accommodate several blanks. at a time and by; utilizing enough fun ish'ng machines so that the blanks will be fed to: at a rate slightly l ss than their normal capacity, the stamping machine may be run at -,f ull speed without the attention of an operator. ,Eurther, if there is a slight discrepancy in the .proportion of blanks fed to the I extra supply/will be taken care of ltnout difficulty. In the manufactureof closure caps, two

finishing machines usually absorb the output oi x-Any suitabletype of conveyor, such as that for-medleythe belt 17 on pulleys 18 and 19, may

0 ipe-utilized. Preferably the conveyor is driven by the stamping machine a convenience and to maintain its speed in proper relation to the speed of the stamping machine; Thi may be done by extending the broken ends of belt 1? (see Fig. 2) about a puiley (not shown) mounted on the drive shaft of the stamping machine. belt passes under the stampng dies so that the blanks fall on the conveyor belt as they leave the dies. The pulleys l8 and i9 supportm the portions .of the belt 17, remotefroin the machine, may be mounted upon shafts 20 and 21 in bear ings 22, suitably fixed to the supporting rods 25 and 26, which may be supported at one end by means ofa bar 53'? mounted in exte -sions 528 on the framework of the machine and having suitable seats 29 for the ends of the supporting rods 25 and 26. The other ends of mounted on the vertical suppor 31. Additional supports, if needed, maybe provided intermediate the-two points of support shown and described herein. The bearings for the pulley 19 are preferablyheldin position by nuts 3 which may .be,,rnoved. longitudinally of the rods 25 26 to adjust the tension of the belt desired; Guide rails,35 are provided. at the edges of the conveyor belt to prevent the blanks fr n being deranged in any instance and are mounted upon the rods 25 and zfi'bysupporting standards 37 provided thereon at suitable intervals "The standards are slotted, as shoii n 38, to facilitate an adjustable attachment by of bolts 39 to the extensions as rivetted to the guide rails 35.

The chutes 15 may be of anydesired form but are here shownihaving a vertical side portion 41 andanarcuateor inclined flange 42, which proon the rods 25 the bar porti- The the rods maybe rides the bottom and other side or" the chutes. The flange 42 slopes or curves downwardly to meet the vertical side ii in a narrow groove 43 (see 3) so that the blanks, when deflected onto the chute, will be turned edgcwise by the flange 42 as they advance sufiiciently far thereon. The

guide rails ma in addition to their other functions, serve as supports for small rods 44, mounted thereon by means of suitable nuts to serve as angular form with free ends joined attached to a suitable pin 47 by means of the bolts 48, extending through the bifurcated end of the Such a deflector furnishes a straight guide for one row of blanks wh n deflected to one side .thc conveyor and diverts the other row of blanksinto one of its adjacent chutes. Its operations-may beso timed that a predetermined num ber of blanks, here shown as four, may be fed to the respective machines upon each oscillation thereof. The position oi these blanks at various times isiliustrated in Fig. l. A suitable support for the deflector over the center of the conveyor maybe formed by inverting a U-shaped member 49 and attaching its free ends :6 to the members 26 by means of the bolts 51. itable aperture is fOli ed at the center of O; the auto accommodate the pin 4:? attached to the deflector.

Anarm 52 is rigidly mountedon the upper end of the pin 4'7 and slotted at its extremity to receive the bolt upon which themember, 54 is rotatably mounted. The bolt 55 may be suitably positioned in the slot by means of the nut "53 to change the effective length of the arm 52 and to vcontrol the angle through which the dev,flector oscillates.

A suitable washer 56 may be mounted between the member 49 and the arm52 about the pin/l7 to prevent wear and to provide clearanceffor movement of the arm, A rod 57,

10f a bolt 59to a slot 60 in the oscillating lever 61,. pivoted atits center portion to-the member 64, su'itablymounted on the rod 27. The other end ofthe lever61 has a rod 65 pivotally and adjustablysecuredin a slot 66 with its other 'end attached to an arm 63 mounted on the shaft 68 7 extending through bearing '73 and having anotherarm69 at the lower end thereof with a cam roller "70 thereon in engagement with the cam 71 which is mounted on shaft 72"of the main stampin machine.

77 atthe end of the rod 65 to holdthe cam roller 70 in engagementwith the cam at all times. As the shaft '72 rotates, the deflector 16 is oscillated through the arms 63 and 69, shaft 68, rod 65, pivoted lever 6l, rod 57, and member 52, to deflect blanks in one row into one of the adjacent chutes and simultaneously to permit the blanks in the other row to pass along the conveyor to one of the curved guides 45 leading to the chutes for the second 'pair of finishing machines. In this manher, the deflector directs blanks simultaneously to diagonally opposite pairs. of machines alternately to distributethe blank equally to the four machines- A. spring '75 is anchored to the framework of the machine at 76 and to a pin LOO ishing machines. is similar to the operation of the first deflector,

A slightly different form of deflector is shown in Figs. 4, 5 and 6 of the drawings, wherein three strips of metal 77 are held in position by a pair of pins '78 and 79, one of the pins being shorter than the other so that the strips at one end will be separated sufliciently to pass a blank between each pair, while at their other ends they will be substantially further separated to facilitate the entry of the blanks. The pin 4'7, described hereinbefore with reference to Fig. 2, may be secured to the middle strip '77 for oscillating the deflector; An arm 81 is secured to the upper end of the pin 47 and has a slot 82 in its free end to which the rod 84 is adjustably secured. One end of the rod 84 is attached to the arm 85, operatively connected to a suitable cam, as described hereinbefore, and its other end is adjustably attached to an arm 87 operatively connected to the deflector 88, which is formed by two strips of metal 89 held in position by pins 90 riveted thereto and adapted to accommodate a single row of blanks.

The two rows of blanks are delivered to the conveyor by any suitable machine, one row passing through one side of the deflector and the other row through the other side thereof. The cam operating the deflector is so shaped that it oscillates the deflector alternately from one side of the conveyor to the other, permitting it to remain in its extreme position on each side of the conveyor sufliciently long for four blanks to pass through each side thereof. The width of the belt 17 is such that it will accommodate three rows of blanks adjacent each other, and the deflector when it moves to one side, diverts the two rows of blanks as near that side as possible, making one of them adjacent the edge of the belt which continues in this position until it reaches the curved guides 90 leading into one of the chutes 15. The other row of blanks diverted to the center of the belt is a continuous row, since, if one side of the deflector is not delivering caps thereto, the other is, and the blanks in this row are passed straight along the center of the conveyor until they reach the deflector 88, which operates simultaneously with the other deflectornately. The curved guides 91 receive the blanks as they are delivered from the deflector. In this manner, a belt which is sufiiciently wide to accommodate three rows of caps may be readily utilized for feeding four machines.

In the embodiment of the invention shown in Fig. 5, the belt 1'? is sufficiently wide to acco l-- modate four rows of caps. The curved guides 94 extend substantially one-quarter of the way across the respective edges of the belt to direct the outside rows of caps into the chutes leading to the first pair of operating machines. Further along the conveyor a second pair of curved guides 95 is provided adjacent the second pair of finishing machines with their inner ends joined at substantially the center portion of the belt so that the two rows of blanks which pass between the guides 94 are diverted by the second pair of guides 95 into the chutes leading to the second pair of fin- The operation of the deflector described in Fig. 4, but the belt being wider instead of forming three rows of blanks when oscillated from one side to the other of the conveyor, forms four rows and the location and position of the guides 94 and 95 eliminate the necessity for the second deflector, shown in Fig. 4.

With single die types of stamping machines, a

pair of finishing machines may be used and the blanks delivered to the conveyor in a single row. Embodiments of the invention particularly applicable to this type of machine are shown in Figs. 6 and 7, wherein an apparatus is provided to de- ,flect the blanks to two machines whether posibolts 98 and an upper arm 101 is attached to the pin, as described hereinbefore, and secured to a rod 102, operatively connected to a cam driven by the main operating machine. The single row i blanks delivered to the conveyor is diverted alternately from one side to the other and a number, here shown as four, permitted to pass during each oscillation of the deflector. These blanks continue along the conveyor at the respective sides thereof until they engage the curved guide 104 or 105, which diverts the blanks into the chutes leading to the machines on the respective sides of the conveyor. In Fig. '7, guide 196 extends to the center of the conveyor while guide 107 extends substantially across the conveyor, whereby two machines on the same side of the conveyor may be readily fed by the deflector shown in Fig. 6. Preferably, the curved guides are so shaped and positioned that the blanks follow their contour and revolve about their ends 108 as a pivot in moving from the conveyor into the chutes, thereby preventing any tendency of the caps to become inverted or to enter the chutes improperly. The operation of the variousdeflectors may be adjusted by positioning the operating rods in the slots through which they are connected to the deflectors.

It will be seen that a very eifective apparatus has been provided for combining a forming machine with a number of finishing machines,

whereby articles may be delivered directly from one stamping machine to a series of machines instead of being storedand fed independently to the machines operating more slowly. The attendance of an operator is completely eliminated by having the operating capacity of the slower machines collectively greater than the operating capacity of the fast machine. Further, the apparatus is simple in construction and may be readily manufactured from commercial parts and is fully capable of withstanding the rough usage to which it may be subjected. As various changes may be made in the abov embodiment without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention, and without sacriflcing any of its advantages, it is to be understood that all matter herein set forth is to be taken as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

Having thus described my invention, I claim: 1. The combination of a cap formingmechae nism adapted to discharge unfinished capspa plurality of thread rolling devices of predetermined capacities adapted to roll threads on said cally dividing the caps discharged from said iii mechanism and feeding them to said devices in predetermined amounts. I

' 3. In a mechanism of the class described, the combination of a conveyor, a mechanism adapted to discharge unfinished articles to said conveyor and operatively connected to the conveyor for driving the same, a plurality of devices adapted to receive said articles from the conveyor and perform a subsequent operation upon the articles and means for dividing said articles as they pass along said conveyor and for directing the articles in predetermined proportions to devices.

4. In a mechanism of the class described, the combination of a conveyor, mechanism adapted to discharge unfinished articles to said conveyor whereby upon the continuous movement of the conveyor the articles are carried in line on'the conveyor, a plurality of devices adapted to receive said articles from the conveyor and perform a subsequent operation upon the articles, and a guide member movable over said conveyor for dividing said line of articles into a plurality of lines of preceterrnined numbers of articles.

5. In a mechanism of the class described, the combination of a conveyor, a mechanism adapted to discharge unfinished articles to said conveyor, means for d ving said mocha ism and simultaneously operating said conveyor, a plurality of devices adapted to receive said articles from the conveyor and perform a subsequent operation upon them, and means operable in accordance with the travel of the conveyor for dividing said articles as they pass along the conveyor and for directing th articles in predetermined proportions to said devices.

6. In a mechanism of the class described, the combination of a conveyor, mechanism adapted to discharge unfinished articles to said conveyor whereby upon the continuous movement of the conveyor the articles are carri d in line on the conveyor, plurality of devices adapted to receive said articles from the conveyor and perform a subsequent operation upon the articles, and a movable guide member driven by said conveyor for dividing said line of articles into a plurality of lines of predetermined numbers of articles.

7. In a mechanism of the class escribed, the combination of a conveyor, mechanism adapted to discharge unfinished articles to said conveyor whereby upon the continuous movement of the conveyor the articles are carried thereon, a plurality 01" devices adapted to receive articles from the conveyor and perform a subsequent operation upon the articles, means for apportioning the articles on the conveyor for the respective devices, and means for delivering the articles thus apportioned to each of the respective devices in a plane at an angle to that of the conveyor.

8. In a mechanism of the class described, the combination of a conveyor, cap'forming mechanism adapted to discha -ge unfinished caps to said conveyor whereby upon the continuous movement of the conveyor the caps are carried thereon, a plurality of devices adapted to receive caps from the conveyor and perform a subsequent operation upon the caps, means for apportioning the caps on'the conveyor for the respective devices, and means for delivering the caps thus apportioned to each of the respective devices in a plane at an angle to that of the conveyor.

9, In a mechanism of the class described, the combination of a conveyor, a mechanism adapted to discharge unfinished caps to said conveyor and operatively connected to the conveyor for driving the same, a plurality of devices adapted to receive said caps from the conveyor and perform a subsequent operation upon the capsand means for dividing said caps as they pass along said conveyor and for directing the caps-in prede- .termined proportions to said devices.

l0. Ina mechanism ofthe class described, the combination of a conveyor, mechanism adapted to discharge unfinished caps to said conveyor whereby upon the continuous movement of the conveyor the caps are carried in line on the conveyor, a plurality of devices adapted to receive said caps from the conveyor and perform asubsequent operation upon the caps, and'a guide member movable over said conveyor for-dividing said line of caps into 'a plurality of lines of predetermined numbers of caps.

ll. In a mechanism of the class described, the combination of a conveyor, a mechanism adapted. to discharge unfinished caps to said conveyor, means for-driving said mechanism and simultaneously operating said conveyor, a plurality of devices adapted to receive said caps from the conveyor and perform a subsequent operation upon them, and means operable in accordance withthe travel of the conveyor for dividing said caps as they pass along the conveyor and for directing the caps in predetermined proportions to said devices.

12. In a mechanism of the class'described, the combination of a conveyor, mechanism-adapted to discharge unfinished caps to said conveyor whereby upon the continuous movementofthe conveyor the caps are carried in line onthe conveyor, a plurality of devices adapted to receive said caps fromthe conveyor and perform a-subsequent operation upon'the caps, and a movable guide mcmberdriven-by said conveyor for dividing said line of caps into a plurality of lines of predetermined numbers of articles.

13. In a mechanism of the class described, the

combinationoi a conveyor, a forming mechanism adapted to discharge unfinished-capsto said conveyor and operatively connected to the-conveyor for driving the same, a' plurality of devices adapted to receive said unfinished caps from the conveyor and perform a subsequent operationupon the caps, an means for dividing said caps as they pass along said conveyor and for directing the caps predetermined proportions to said devices.

14. In a mechanism of the class described, the

combination of a conveyor, a cap forming mechanism adapted to stampblanks from a sheet of material and to discharge said unfinished caps to said conveyor, means for driving said mechanism and simultaneously operating said conveyor, a plurality of devices adapted to receive said caps from the conveyor and perform a subsequent operation upon them, and means operable in accordance with the travel of the conveyor for dividing said caps as they pass along the conveyor and for directing the caps in predetermined proportions to said devices.

15. The combination of a cap forming mechanism adapted to discharge a plurality of unfinished caps simultaneously onto a conveyor, formtwo rows of caps thereon, a plurality of thread rolling devices of predetermined capacities adapted to roll threads on said caps, and means for automati'cally dividing the caps discharged from said mechanism and feeding them to said devices in accordance With their capacities.

15. In a mechanism of the class describedythe combination of a conveyor, cap forming mechanism adapted to discharge a plurality of unfinished caps simultaneously to said conveyor whereby, upon the continuous movement of the conveyor, caps are carried thereon in a plurality of rows, a plurality of devices adapted to receive caps from the conveyor and perform subsequent operations upon the caps, means for apportioning the caps on the conveyor for the respective devices, and means for delivering the caps thus apportioned to each of the respective devices in a plane at an angle to that of a conveyor.

17. The combination of a cap forming mechanism adapted to discharge a plurality of unfinished caps simultaneously, a plurality of thread rolling devices of predetermined capacities adapted to roll threads on said caps, a conveyor for receiving said unfinished caps in a plurality of rows thereon, a deflector operatively connected to said cap forming machine and effective upon said rows of blanks to deflect blanks from each of said rows to substantially the center of said conveyor, and a second deflector effective upon certain of said blanks to deflect them into a plurality of additional paths, whereby said unfinished caps discharged from said forming mechanism are divided and fed to said threading devices in accordance with their capacities.

18. In a mechanism of the class described, the combination of a conveyor for receiving unfinished articles in a pair of rows thereon, a mechanism adapted to discharge unfinished articles to said conveyor in a pair or rows and operatively connected to the conveyor for driving the same, a plurality of devices adapted to receive said articles from the conveyor and perform a subsequent operation upon the articles, and means for dividing said pair of rows into three rows of articles and for directing the articles in predetermined proportions to said devices.

19. In a mechanism of the class described, the combination of a conveyor for receiving unfinished articles in a pair of rows, a mechanism adapted to discharge unfinished articles to said conveyor in a pair of rows, and operatively connected to the conveyor for driving the same, a plurality of devices adapted to receive said articles from the conveyor and perform a subsequent operation upon the articles, a deflector effective upon each of said rows to alternately deflect the articles therein into the center row, whereby a continuous row of articles is formed at the center of the conveyor and interrupted rows of articles are formed on each side of the conveyor, and a second deflector adapted to defiect said center row of articles into two paths to divide said articles as they pass along said conveyor and for directing the articles in predetermined proportions to a pair of said devices.

20. In a mechanism of the class described, the combination of a conveyor, a cap forming mech anism adapted to discharge unfinished caps to said conveyor, whereby upon the continuous movement of the conveyor, caps are carried thereon, four devices adapted to receive caps from the conveyor and perform a subsequent operation upon the caps, means for apportioning the caps on the conveyor for the respective devices, and means for delivering the caps thus apportioned to each of the respective devicesin a plane at an angle to that of the conveyor.

21. The combination of a cap forming mechanism adapted to discharge unfinished caps, four thread rolling devices of predetermined capacities adapted to roll threads on said caps, and means for automatically dividing the caps discharged from said mechanism and feeding them to said devices in accordance with their capacities.

EDGAR SCOFIELD 

